6 Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Where do we stand?

For the first time both the number of people living in extreme poverty and the poverty rates fell in every developing region—including in sub-Saharan Africa, where rates are highest. In the developing regions, the proportion of people living on less than $1.25 a day fell from 47 per cent in 1990 to 24 per cent in 2008. In 2008, about 110 million fewer people than in 2005 lived in conditions of extreme poverty. The number of extreme poor in the developing regions fell from over 2 billion in 1990 to less than 1.4 billion in 2008.

At 25, Aleksandar Vrhovac had no previous work experience. He knew nothing about how to look for a job — until he went to one of the new centres for information, counselling and education opening up across the country.More

Quick facts

The proportion of people living on less than $1.25 a day fell from 47 per cent in 1990 to 24 per cent in 2008—a reduction from over 2 billion to less than 1.4 billion.

Preliminary estimates indicate that the global poverty rate at $1.25 a day fell in 2010 to less than half the 1990 rate. If these results are confirmed, the first target of the MDGs— cutting the extreme poverty rate to half its 1990 level—will have been achieved at the global level well ahead of 2015.

Women are far more likely than men to be engaged in vulnerable employment

The numbers of malnourished have stabilized since 1990

Progress in relieving food deprivation has slowed or stalled in many regions

Countries in sub-Saharan Africa were the hardest hit by the food and financial crises

Nearly one in five children under age five in the developing world is underweight

Differences in undernutrition found between rural and urban children are largest in Latin America and the Caribbean

Poverty is a major determinant of undernutrution in children in all regions

The number of refugees and of the displaced remains high, even with an upturn in repatriation in 2011

Featured Publication

Three important targets on poverty, slums and water have been met three years ahead of 2015, says this year’s Report. Meeting the remaining targets, while challenging, is possible ─ but only if Governments do not waiver from their commitments.